WORCESTER — The start of a new school year sees yet another residential area trying to block "institutional intrusion" into the neighborhood.

Residents of Nelson Park Drive want to restrict parking to residents-only to address spill-over parking from nearby Nelson Place School.

Because the school has insufficient on-site parking for its teachers, staff and parents, a number are forced to park on nearby Nelson Park Drive and Deborah Road.

When vehicles are parked on both sides of the streets, neighborhood residents said it leaves only one lane open to traffic.

"It's not only an inconvenience, it's really dangerous in the winter when the street is down to one lane," Richard Duffy, a 44-year resident of 16 Nelson Park Drive, recently told the City Council Traffic and Parking Committee.

Joann F. Lee, of 8 Nelson Park Drive, who has lived in the neighborhood for 32 years, said parking associated with the school has become especially worse during the past five years.

"The parking is horrendous; there's no getting away from it," she said. "Our street turns into a public parking lot during the school year. It's very dangerous and very hazardous."

Ms. Lee said residents often have difficulty backing out of their own driveways because cars are often parked right up to their driveways, giving them little room to maneuver.

Nelson Park Drive is located off Nelson Place and the two streets intersect directly in front the school.

District 1 Councilor Tony Economou, who filed a resident parking permit petition with the City Council on behalf of Ms. Lee, said Nelson Place School's enrollment has gone from 300 students years ago to more than 500 students today.

He said the parking lot on the school property is small and unable to accommodate such growth.

"They already double-park in the parking lot; there's no where else to put more vehicles," Mr. Economou said. "Things are difficult at best."

The councilor said the parking crunch should ease when the Nelson Place replacement school is built. He said those plans provide for more on-site parking, which should take many of the cars that now park there off the residential streets.

"When the new school is built, a lot of the problems will be addressed," Mr. Economou said. "The problem is that could be at least three to five years away."

As an alternative, Mr. Economou suggested restricting parking on one side of Nelson Park Drive to residents only so some on-street parking can still be available for teachers, staff and parents at Nelson Place School.

Councilor-at-Large Konstantina B. Lukes said what is happening at Nelson Place is the latest example of "institutional intrusion" going on throughout the city.

Last year, residents living in the neighborhoods near Worcester State University fought to restrict parking on their streets to residents only. The same has also occurred in recent years in neighborhoods near the College of the Holy Cross, Clark University and Gates Lane School.

Mrs. Lukes suggested that neighborhood residents meet with the principal of Nelson Place School and other school officials to try to reach an accommodation on the parking issue.

Councilor-at-Large Michael T. Gaffney, chairman of the Traffic and Parking Committee, said he fears if parking is restricted on Nelson Park Drive it would only move the problem to other residential streets in the neighborhood.

He said it is best to first invite school officials to the committee's next meeting to discuss the parking situation and see if something can be worked out.

Mrs. Lukes said if she sees no action on the part of school officials, she would be willing to approve the resident-parking-only petition for a six-month trial basis.

Contact Nick Kotsopoulos at nicholas.kotsopoulos@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @NCKotsopoulos